Thai performers caked in make-up belt out the piercing notes of Chinese opera – an art form under threat by changing cultural habits and demographics in a kingdom reshaped by centuries of immigration from the north.
With Chinese New Year holiday today, the nomadic Lau San Chia Soon troupe, who pitch their stage wherever they are invited, are having a particularly busy few days.
But during the rest of the year, this eye-catching form of musical theatre is struggling as younger Thais look for entertainment elsewhere.
“The history of Chinese opera is getting forgotten and is vanishing as new generations don’t really know much about it,” says 25-year-old Natnicha Saeung, who began performing with the troupe at age 13.
Her colleague Chukiat Thippan, 23, agrees.
“There are not many people watching Chinese operas now,” he says behind a hastily erected temporary stage in a rural district of Nakhon Pathom. “Some of the older Thai-Chinese people passed away and the new generations don’t really continue the tradition.”
About 14 per cent of the Thai population is ethnic Chinese. Many more have Chinese roots among their forebears. But the number of Thais who understand the Teochew dialect used by the singers is dwindling.
There was a time when Chinese opera troupes like this were common, travelling from village to village bringing the entertaining sights and sounds of a tradition that dates back centuries.
Mangkorn Supongpan, 62, whose parents founded Lau San Chia Soon, says there are now fewer than 20 groups like his in Thailand.
He admits it’s hard to attract people to the lifestyle. Performers raise their children, eat and sleep beneath the stage, packing it up and all their belongings every few days to move to a new venue. “It’s a hard life because we barely go back home, we perform all year long, non-stop.”
Few will see riches either. The average monthly wage for a performer is between Bt10,000 to Bt20,000, depending on their role.
Most communities that invite operas to perform do it more as a way to honour ancestors than to entertain the masses.
But some among the largely elderly crowd watching the troupe’s performance that night hope younger generations might be inspired to give Chinese opera a try.
“People now stay home and watch TV,” says Prasit Puthiprapa, a sprightly 81-year-old. “But watching Chinese opera is like watching movies and soap operas, it’s good fun especially when you pay attention to it,” he adds, somewhat admonishingly.
At the start of the show shortly after dusk, dozens sit on plastic chairs watching the drama unfold.
But by the time it wraps up around midnight, just a solitary audience member and a street dog remain.
This source first appeared on The Nation Life.